Our ancestors would have ventured deeper into our back country if they'd been able to do so in a powerful jetboat, writes Lisa Scott.

Ruby Jay Marris, the five year-old killed in a crash involving a foreign driver in Otago, has been remembered as “cherished and loved” and a "fun-loving princess".

Six60's return to Dunedin's student quarter was marred when a man watching the gig suffered moderate to serious injuries when he fell from a roof.

''Everyone just ran and glass showered down on to the road.'' Exploding glass caused a shower of fragments onto Dunedin's main street yesterday.

Six overseas drivers have appeared in court over the past 24 hours after a series of crashes that have focused attention on tourist driving.

A heartbroken family are mourning the loss of 5-year-old Ruby Jay Marris after a car crash involving a foreign driver in Otago.

The 5-year-old Oamaru girl killed in a crash in North Otago on Saturday has been named by police.

Government inaction has been blamed for "driving the tourist road toll" up, following two crashes involving Chinese visitors over the weekend.

A motivational speaker who lost his legs in a train accident as child has begun cycling the Central Otago Rail Trail this weekend.

A five-year-old girl died in a fatal crash in North Otago last night.

Two people have been injured in a head-on collision on a country road.

Four men were jailed for at least 17 years for murdering a farmhand in North Otago but sentencing marred by hurling of abuse.

Most of the 25 cats owned by Invercargill woman Averil Gardiner have been rehomed to meet a court's deadline.

Dunedin residents are angry after they lost power for eight hours a week earlier than expected - saying the power company's attitude to the mistake was 'cavalier'.

An annual party at a sponsored student flat has been cancelled after more than 3000 people indicated they would attend.

Kiwi fugitive Paul Bennett has appeared in a Sydney court today and entered no plea after 10 months on the run ended in Australia last night.

A heated argument between two men acting "like a couple of strutting peacocks" which ended in a chase with a chainsaw at a petrol station is condemned by a judge.

Queenstown man Verdun Waghorn was a UFO sceptic - until he photographed one. Now he wants to know if the truth is out there.

''I try to pick up the broken glass every Sunday morning, but it was just too bad.'' 1000 revellers helped plaster a Dunedin street in glass - to residents' disgust.

A man who fell from a van travelling at 100km/h between Clyde and Cromwell last weekend has died in hospital.

The twin sisters of Cromwell teen Rachel Clark have had genetic tests after the head girl's sudden death.

Two Korean nationals are dead after a horror smash at Blackhead, Dunedin, yesterday.

A 40 metre elm tree is driving its owner and neighbours mad - but Dunedin's Council says "nuisance factors" aren't sufficient justification for taking it down.

Plans for a huge expansion of New Zealand's most luxurious golfing and lifestyle resort have been unveiled today.

Some new software released in Dunedin yesterday will be a breath of fresh air for breast-feeding mums.

Hundreds of overseas tourists caught freedom camping illegally in the Queenstown Lakes area are leaving the country without paying the $200 fine.